It costs money to run a site like hencam. If everyone decided to help in whatever way they could (even in ways that don't cost anything), it would be great. We don't want your hard earned money, but you can help in other ways...

You can help by:- ordering through hencam's amazon link - it doesn't cost you anything!- clicking on one of the targeted adverts - it doesn't cost you anything and the ads link to useful sites!

So since looking into lungworm (which our old vet said was little concern so needn't bother using a wormer which covers it) it now seems everyone is saying to use wormers to prevent / cure it. There is A LOT of confusion over whether these wormers prevent or cure infestations, and over which wormer is best, with even vets becoming very confused and all saying different things...

As far as I can gather, if you use the supposedly "best" treatment Advocate, you then need to also use another wormer at the same time (as Advocate doesn't cover tapeworm) and then you also need something to fight ticks...AAAAAGH!!!

My mind is just boggling! I'm planning on asking the vet...

1) How many chemicals am I putting in / on these dogs?! 2) Do the long term health risks of the chemicals outweigh the risks of worms / ticks? (I'm so not gonna trust whatever they say here :p )3) Are there alternatives?4) How prevalent is lungworm in this area? (what are the chances the vet isn't gonna push for a sale )5)How dangerous is Advocate if ingested? We have two dogs so I want to be really sure it's okay if one licks the other...I've heard this can be dangerous and it's not something I'm willing to risk6) Can I get a prescription for these and buy elsewhere? (read online that vets are always more expensive than buying online, but that you do need a prescription for pretty much any lungworm wormer)

Currently we use Johnsons wormer and Bob Martin flea & tick remover. So I have no idea whether I want to change this, whether it is worth it...

I don't know why, but tapeworm and roundworm aren't covered by the same treatment. However, Frontline spot on does fleas, roundworm and ticks (in cats at least, can't see it would be different for dogs), and advocate is the tapeworming tablet used most frequently for cats. I don't know what treatments there are for lungworm, or how frequent it would be needed. For cats, tapeworm treatment is only really needed if they either a) have fleas (that's part of the tapeworm lifecycle) or b) they eat small birds/rodents.

I can't decide if lungworm really is a big issue nowadays, or if they've just realised that it's something else they can use to screw money out of owners!

From what I read nobody seemed sure if dogs could safely be on Advocate and Frontline at the same time, some vets said it was okay whilst others said not to do it (that's another question to add to the list...!)

That's interesting that tapeworm treatment isn't needed for cats unless they have fleas or eat small birds / rodents, I wonder if the same holds true for dogs...

*sigh* I know, me too re: lungworm! I wish there was some way to find out how prevalent in your area it was...lungworm meds are not cheap and could mean a complete overhaul of our animals' meds!

The other 'good' med was supposed to be Milbemax, but that can't be used on Collie types, so that's a no go with Kasper...

Is lungworm a new thing? Because we never heard of it when I had dogs 25 years ago; a wormer was a wormer and that was it. I can't help thinking there are a lot of advertising scare tactics going on in both the human and animal world at the moment, fuelled by drugs companies...

I assume it's a new thing, we certainly never heard of it until the last year or so when posters in vets have been popping up everywhere.

We asked Lyle's parents what they use and their vet gives Vince Milbemax (which we can't use as it can cause seizures in Collie type dogs)...but that covers all types of worms so you'd only have to use Milbemax and Frontline, which is annoying...

Posted By: chief chickenI can't help thinking there are a lot of advertising scare tactics going on in both the human and animal world at the moment, fuelled by drugs companies...

Yes CC, I agree completely. In humans the drug companies will publicise that their new drug is the next best thing, but in reality is no better to current, cheaper alternatives. That's why the NHS wait for NICE to verify these extortionately expensive drugs are safe and do add benefit to life. If only there were an animal version of NICE!